Sweden lost as expected against Germany. Now it's Argentina - Mexico, which will result in Germany against Argentina in the quarter, a game that Germany will win. Germany looked good today, both in terms of the play and in terms of the tactics. I want to see something like 4 - 0 against Mexico before I place my bet on Argentina winning against Germany. Until then I bet on Germany winning the quarter. If Argentina wins only by one goal today it's very likely that Germany will make it to the semi final.

Argentina won as expected against Mexico. Argentina was not using the ball very efficiently today. The fact that they won only by one goal was not a surprise. Messi showed huge potential in this game. A new Maradona...?!

Anyway, now it's looking really bright for Germany in this World Cup. Argentina has a coach that won't take them to the final. He reminds me a little of Sweden's coach. Germany will now soon be in the semi final, probably against Italy. I'll have to watch Italy's upcoming game, but if they play like they have been playing so far Germany will beat them. Brazil will probably reach the final since match 60 will include better teams than match 59. It's really starting to look like we will have Germany - Brazil in the final!!

Argentina won as expected against Mexico. Argentina was not using the ball very efficiently today. The fact that they won only by one goal was not a surprise. Messi showed huge potential in this game. A new Maradona...?!

Anyway, now it's looking really bright for Germany in this World Cup. Argentina has a coach that won't take them to the final. He reminds me a little of Sweden's coach. Germany will now soon be in the semi final, probably against Italy. I'll have to watch Italy's upcoming game, but if they play like they have been playing so far Germany will beat them. Brazil will probably reach the final since match 60 will include better teams than match 59. It's really starting to look like we will have Germany - Brazil in the final!!

There is no science to what you are saying...it's a game amd every game is different.

For starters, the Mexico-Argentina game was very difficult, a hard fought game from start to finish. Don't forget that Argentina was the favorite in that game and that's always more difficult. Mexico had nothing to lose and everything to gain, they were not expected to win. Also, that early goal from the Mexicans changed their whole game plan. They were shocked by that goal.

Still, I think Mexico played a great game. They fought every ball like it was the last. But...Argentina is Argentina...

You can't make predictions on the Germany-Argentina match because that will be very different. For one, Germany will be expected to win and they will have the pressure, this will change things a lot.

It will be a physical match but more open, Germany won't speculate and they will go for the win. This will favor Argentina as it will create more spaces. Still, I worry about the Argentine midfield, it is a bit slow for me.

We will see what happens on Friday but I still pick Argentina in the finals...

Not afraid Dreamsongs, you dont understand. I tell you. the Argentina team always look for chaos on field. They always try make the referees lost references about the game.They dont like discipline.You did see today game? Argentina team back for second half play game after hour.They make faults and make polemics about simple things in game circunstances, and yes, they do agressive faults more than Brazil team, because Brazil team want make the "art soccer"...Argentina team dont like art soccer.They hate art...
Argentina team coach looks more like a boxer trainner.
Of course defense line not angels, but look the faults number commited by brazilian line defense...minimum faults.But argentina team want chaos to field domination.Thats the problem with they team.
Argentina team dont have the Brazil team talent, never will be. You will see against Germany...They will transform the game in a chaos, totally anti-soccer things will happen. You will see.

Not afraid Dreamsongs, you dont understand. I tell you. the Argentina team always look for chaos on field. They always try make the referees lost references about the game.They dont like discipline.You did see today game? Argentina team back for second half play game after hour.They make faults and make polemics about simple things in game circunstances, and yes, they do agressive faults more than Brazil team, because Brazil team want make the "art soccer"...Argentina team dont like art soccer.They hate art...
Argentina team coach looks more like a boxer trainner.
Of course defense line not angels, but look the faults number commited by brazilian line defense...minimum faults.But argentina team want chaos to field domination.Thats the problem with they team.
Argentina team dont have the Brazil team talent, never will be. You will see against Germany...They will transform the game in a chaos, totally anti-soccer things will happen. You will see.

I'm sorry my friend but you don't know what you're talking about...

Plus, you are saying this only because you're Brazilian. Argentina is one of the few teams that can beat Brazil so I understand why you don't like them. I think you are worried that they might win it...

Argentina has 2 World Cups, 2 World Cup finals and 5 Under 20 World Cups and 1 Olympic Gold medal. If they are so bad and without talent. How did they accomplish this...?

For starters, the Mexico-Argentina game was very difficult, a hard fought game from start to finish. Don't forget that Argentina was the favorite in that game and that's always more difficult.

true.

Quote:

Mexico had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

beg to differ there. mexico recenty played the confederations cup in germany, lost to argentina in penalty kicks (score was 0-0) and was the only team to beat brazil. the last time they played argentina before that was in the america's cup and mexico won. their FIFA ranking was # 4 before this cup. the level you saw today is what they've demonstrating in the last couple of years. imho they had plenty to lose...

and boy did they.

Quote:

Still, I think Mexico played a great game. They fought every ball like it was the last. But...Argentina is Argentina...

yes. that last goal was amazing. argentina did what they had to. period. that's why big teams are big teams.

Quote:

You can't make predictions on the Germany-Argentina match because that will be very different. For one, Germany will be expected to win and they will have the pressure, this will change things a lot.

correct. they will have the pressure, but they'll also have home court advantage and a ref who will be petrified to make a call against them.

Quote:

It will be a physical match but more open, Germany won't speculate and they will go for the win.

i don't think it'll open up til after the first goal. germany is a pro at defending. both teams will attack, but will be very careful not to receive the 1st goal.

Quote:

We will see what happens on Friday but I still pick Argentina in the finals...

i say germany. spain is playing amazingly well also, and you can't forget italy. if argentina didn't have to play germany at this stage i think they could be in the finals.. germany-brazil for me, but we'll find out soon enough.

There is no science to what you are saying...it's a game amd every game is different.

Argentina - Mexico. The science is this, two teams playing inefficient football, not productive enough players on the pitch. I don't think it was two great teams against each other, in that case we would have seen far more goals. When Argentina scored to 1-1, I myself and all others in the room were pretty sure it would still be 1-1 when the match was over if that was the kind of football they would continue to play. And they did. A boring game until the last minutes. None of the coaches really started taking decisions to change the game play. Even after a big number of wrong passes and wrong playing overall they did nothing. A closer look and you instantly knew why it ended up like this: Tevez, Messi didn't play from the start. It was like taking Zlatan on the pitch instead of Allbäck in Sweden's last game, even though Allbäck had been much more productive during the whole World Cup. I blame it on Argentina's coach, Argentina had far better players to use. This only proves that Argentina is tactically a weak team in this World Cup. Against Germany they will suffer because Germany is NOT tactically a weak team in this World Cup, they are probably tactically the BEST team in the whole World Cup. They play productive and efficient football and Argentina will have huge problems with that.

I must however once again mention Messi. What a great player! I haven't seen anyone else in this World Cup with such fast and productive moves. Argentina's coach is really stupid to not have him in the starting lineup. All you Argentina fans out there: Pray for Messi in the starting lineup against Germany!

500 hundred England supporters arrested over the last 2 nights for chanting racist songs, throwing bottles and chairs. For me, this is reason enough to support Ecuador today. I feel sorry for the England fans that dont behave like that but if it takes England getting knocked out to mean some peace on the streets of the home nations towns then so be it. What a bunch of twats...

500 hundred England supporters arrested over the last 2 nights for chanting racist songs, throwing bottles and chairs. For me, this is reason enough to support Ecuador today. I feel sorry for the England fans that dont behave like that but if it takes England getting knocked out to mean some peace on the streets of the home nations towns then so be it. What a bunch of twats...

500 hundred England supporters arrested over the last 2 nights for chanting racist songs, throwing bottles and chairs. For me, this is reason enough to support Ecuador today. I feel sorry for the England fans that dont behave like that but if it takes England getting knocked out to mean some peace on the streets of the home nations towns then so be it. What a bunch of twats...

That's really bad behaviour. Awful! England is not looking good in this World Cup. But this is a game I won't do any predictions about, I've missed some of Ecuador's latest games so I don't know how these two teams compare. But let's put it this way. Sweden lost against Germany 0-2. Germany won against Ecuador 3-0. Sweden played 1-1 against England, but was close to losing the game, which is supported by the fact that England played better than Sweden against Trinidad and Tobago. So that would make England a little better than Ecuador. So I guess England has a good chance of winning today, I just hope for positive surprises rather than a game similar to Argentina - Mexico. It will be interesting to see what decision Sven Göran Ericsson will make about Wayne Rooney.

Well try not qualifying for 32 years and come from 46th in the world down to the last 16. Australia V's Italy bring it on. We feel like champions already
Bad news in the Aussie camp is Harry Kewel may be unfit and **** we need him.

Correction, they cant take their booze (that and post-empire syndrome doesnt help heh )

But Ecuador had taken 5 of their star players off for that match as they knew they had already qualified.

Go Ecuador!

That is a blow. Fingers crossed he's fit for tomorrow.

tutt Now stop that my little sweaty sock friend!!!
look back over your posts mate!! you continualy bash England
now! we know that the Jocks hate England and thats fair enough
but you know that the events in Germany a fabricatedhttp://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=133552
this is closer to the truth!!

look what all these idiots do to the sport, and they probably would say, its all about the soccer, but its all about their ****ing egos and aggression-problems, they destroy a great atmosphere, and it doesnt matter if its some germans or english people, both countrys have way to many ****ing morons who say that they are "football fans", if they were they wouldnt act like this. the majority of people here in germany coming from germany or from all over the world are celebrating a peacefull event, doesnt matter if alc is involved or not. its just sad!
people should respect each other, the war is over!
i can only try to apologize for any german idiot talking/screaming/chanting/acting ****!
i personally am looking forward to a nice match on friday, my bet of course is: germany wins, but most of the people i know dont believe we have a chance against argentina.... so im surprised and happy, that many of you have such a good opinion of our german team...
we will see!
PEACE

look what all these idiots do to the sport, and they probably would say, its all about the soccer, but its all about their ****ing egos and aggression-problems, they destroy a great atmosphere, and it doesnt matter if its some germans or english people, both countrys have way to many ****ing morons who say that they are "football fans", if they were they wouldnt act like this. the majority of people here in germany coming from germany or from all over the world are celebrating a peacefull event, doesnt matter if alc is involved or not. its just sad!
people should respect each other, the war is over!
i can only try to apologize for any german idiot talking/screaming/chanting/acting ****!
i personally am looking forward to a nice match on friday, my bet of course is: germany wins, but most of the people i know dont believe we have a chance against argentina.... so im surprised and happy, that many of you have such a good opinion of our german team...
we will see!
PEACE

Spot on!...from tv covarage it looks like one big party
and thats how it should be..
not a surprise that Germany are many peoples fav`s
as I stated in my first post,they have home advantage
and that can be as good as a goal start,
watching the Germans,the only negative i can see.is the centre backs!
I think they may be rumbled by the better teams

How can Mexico have something to lose when they've never won anything at the international level ? Argentina is always one of the favorites in every international competition. It has to do with history and past results. Argentina was the favorite in that match and to win the whole thing. Nobody really expected Mexico to win therefore all the pressure was on Argentina.

About Argentina-Germany:

To me, it is wide open. The Germans have been improving with every game but they had one of the easiest groups in the World Cup. They haven't really beaten anybody important yet. Costa Rica ? Poland, who they've never beaten Germany at home) Ecuador (with 5 subs) and finally Sweden. The Swedes had horrible calls against them and that red card was shameful, not even close. Germany would've won that game anyway but the ref was a disgrace.

It's always tough to play a strong home team. Germany and Argentina have a history in the World Cups ('86 final & '90 finals), they respect each other. It will be anybody's game. Having said that, I think Germany has the edge and they will go into this as the favorites. But favorites don't always win. Argentina have a much better defense than any of the teams Gemany has played against so far. Also, their offense is much stronger than any other teams they've played against as well. The German defense hasn't really been tested yet, I think they lack there.

My final prediction:

I will go out on a limb here on GS and pick Argentina by 1 goal difference. The talent of the Argentine offense will be too much for Germany. I just hope the ref has the balls to make the right calls and doesn't screw them up...This is my biggest fear, - let's favor the home team if we have any doubts - mentality...

Spot on!...from tv covarage it looks like one big party
and thats how it should be..
not a surprise that Germany are many peoples fav`s
as I stated in my first post,they have home advantage
and that can be as good as a goal start,
watching the Germans,the only negative i can see.is the centre backs!
I think they may be rumbled by the better teams

yeah. yesterday in hamburg, it was 1 big party heh !!

and you are right with the centre backs, but hopefully, podolski or klose are able to compensate for it!

and some thoughts about arg-mex:
like someone said before: mex was able to beat brazil and almost beat arg a few weeks ago, so they really played excellent this year, and i expected the game to become that close. i dont think that they had nothing to loose, because they were a total underdog, they were a good competition!

Now stop that my little sweaty sock friend!!!
look back over your posts mate!! you continualy bash England
now! we know that the Jocks hate England and thats fair enough
but you know that the events in Germany a fabricatedhttp://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=133552
this is closer to the truth!!

First of all I do not bash England. If I was bashing England then I would be guilty of the same xenophobia that I despise in these hooligans. I bash the hooligans and the English medias hype of the football teams ability. Please remember we are talking football here chief. And who says the "jocks" hate England? I dont hate England. Half of my mates are English and I lived 14 years there. Sounds like a bit of insecurity on your part tutt

I tell you what though, it doesnt matter which way you paint it, England football fans have a reputation and they have it for a reason. Every goddamn time they play there is an entourage of moronic twats determined to attack the host nations hospitality. The only reason it didnt happen in Japan and Korea is because the idiots couldnt afford to go. Sorry mate but when England play people know the baggage that comes with it. I mention post-empire syndrome as I cant think of any other reasoning behind it. This xenophobia comes from somewhere. Am I saying all English people are like this? Dont be absurd. Im talking about English thugs using the national team as an excuse for their twattish behaviour. But I think there is some deep set insecurity within these people about their own national identity.

This is why I wont support England. Not because I have a problem with England, not because I even have a problem with the English football team, but because of the baggage that travels with them. Personally I dont believe a football match is worth the terrorising of a towns population. And once the team is put of the tournament then the trouble stops.

And I know that all this is desperately unfair for the average well-behaved England fan (like yourself I suspect) but it is a problem and you cant pretend otherwise. Just speak to some folks abroad to get an idea of the negative reputation that these people have created for England.

Not at all surprising, which was a dissapointment. I had hoped to see a good game, the game was the worst I've seen in the whole World Cup! They can't blame it on the weather, because Wayne Rooney played in the same weather! Simply put, extremely bad decision making in both teams. Ecuador was in a mental trance state the whole game, with a charismatic coach on the side, doing absolutely nothing except avoiding decisions that needed to be made. The players in the Ecuador team simply wanted to go home, they had got enough.

Beckham once again showed how efficient he is on free kicks. Rooney showed he WANTED to win, the other players in the English team just wanted the game to end...

Now I just want to forget this game and start focusing on the Portugal - Netherlands game, THAT will be something completely different! I think will have more goals as well as more productive teams. I hope Ronaldo and Robben will be in the starting lineups...!

First of all I do not bash England. If I was bashing England then I would be guilty of the same xenophobia that I despise in these hooligans. I bash the hooligans and the English medias hype of the football teams ability. Please remember we are talking football here chief. And who says the "jocks" hate England? I dont hate England. Half of my mates are English and I lived 14 years there. Sounds like a bit of insecurity on your part tutt

I tell you what though, it doesnt matter which way you paint it, England football fans have a reputation and they have it for a reason. Every goddamn time they play there is an entourage of moronic twats determined to attack the host nations hospitality. The only reason it didnt happen in Japan and Korea is because the idiots couldnt afford to go. Sorry mate but when England play people know the baggage that comes with it. I mention post-empire syndrome as I cant think of any other reasoning behind it. This xenophobia comes from somewhere. Am I saying all English people are like this? Dont be absurd. Im talking about English thugs using the national team as an excuse for their twattish behaviour. But I think there is some deep set insecurity within these people about their own national identity.

This is why I wont support England. Not because I have a problem with England, not because I even have a problem with the English football team, but because of the baggage that travels with them. Personally I dont believe a football match is worth the terrorising of a towns population. And once the team is put of the tournament then the trouble stops.

And I know that all this is desperately unfair for the average well-behaved England fan (like yourself I suspect) but it is a problem and you cant pretend otherwise. Just speak to some folks abroad to get an idea of the negative reputation that these people have created for England.

ya right england do have a lot of baggage
but!!...first and formost we need to deal in facts
btw i dont condone this neandathal behaviour,
it makes me sick,...
but I do think that many England fans
are pushed into this,I know at least three guys there at this moment
and they are very placid blokes,but have been caught up in this crap
and I beleive what they say,it`s so easy to blame someone with a reputation even if they are inocent.the anti England theme ~I picked you up on was just a bit of banter...heh
Im sure you realised this,after all Im of Scotish decent

now on with the Football
first off, England have by no means turned on the form they are capable of
Lampard as been hopless,Gerrard listless and Robinson was almost Scotish (heh )
but we progress job done,as for the weather it realy did play a major part in every game that England have played bar the Swedish game
the biger the team the better England will play
so bring on the Dutch!!!!!!!..........Co`mon England